With 600 new hires, the number of employees has also increased significantly, meaning that 5,100 colleagues are currently working for the family-owned company from the Upper Palatinate region of Germany, 2,100 of them at the main plant in Parkstein.

2021 was not only eventful, but above all successful for Witron: the company's 50th anniversary was honored "in accordance with the circumstances" due to the pandemic - with the opening of the 200 million euro investment "Plant II North", 120,000^m2 of additional production space was put into operation for conveyor technology and control cabinet production - more than doubling the company's total area - and Group sales exceeded the billion euro mark for the first time in the company's history at 1.05 billion euros. Furthermore, a good 600 additional employees strengthened the Witron team. For the third year in a row, over 100 new trainees were also integrated into the professional world in 17 apprenticeships. A further 1,800 additional jobs are expected to be created in Parkstein in the coming years. Extensive investments and a further increase in the number of employees are also in focus internationally in the medium term. Plans include a massive expansion of the US headquarters in Chicago, both in terms of building structure and personnel.

Impressive order intake from new and existing customers

The basis for the exclusively organic growth and the well-filled order books with a convincing order intake, which, as in the previous year, is higher than the annual turnover achieved, is the great confidence of new and existing customers in Witron's automated end-to-end solutions. Numerous project contracts were signed with food, near-food and non-food retailers from the core markets of Europe and North America. The majority of orders now involve omnichannel distribution centers from which all sales channels - stores, click & collect, online customers - are supplied with all items from the dry, fresh and frozen ranges - both cases and pieces. Witron started with the implementation of a pure e-food DC for a Swedish retailer. 100% of the picking units are picked automatically.

Corporate culture as a success factor

"The market clearly shows that the corporate culture factor plays a decisive role, particularly in the project business and in long-term partnerships. Competence, experience and commitment are undoubtedly important foundations for success," says company founder and owner Walter Winkler, "but the decisive factor is our unique corporate culture. Consistently practiced values such as taking responsibility, rolling up our sleeves, keeping our promises, being credible, reliable and predictable, remaining down-to-earth are not buzzwords, but decisive differentiating features that make a company unmistakable on the market and not interchangeable," Walter Winkler clarified.

"We realize projects in a system-relevant industry. Every day, our solutions supply more than 100 million people with food and many important everyday necessities via stores or online retail. We are aware of this responsibility and challenge every day. And with the optimal opportunities offered by the additional resources of Plant II North, highly motivated employees and a reassuring order situation, we are happy to take on this challenge. 2021 was a successful year for the Witron Group. And especially in a socially and politically difficult environment, we will continue to work hard for the success of our customers and employees."